Listen to "Undercat," a previously unissued track by Sly And The Family Stone

Higher!, a new, fancy box set from Sly And The Family Stone comes out Aug. 27, and in anticipation, The A.V. Club has the premiere of a previously unissued track from the 4-CD set. “Undercat” is an instrumental recorded during the A Whole New Thing period in August 1967 and was produced by Sly Stone for Stone Flower Productions. According to Family Stone drummer Greg Errico, “this track was recorded during the same time period as ‘Underdog,’ as it has many of the same attributes (similar horn lines, highly syncopated rhythms, etc.). It ended up becoming the song ‘Plastic Jim’... You’ll hear the similarities. With most of our songs, they would develop or morph through experimentation…”

A full tracklist for the box set is below, and Higher is available for pre-order now.

Disc Two (1967-1968)
01. What’s That Got To Do With Me (1967, previously unissued)
02. Fortune And Fame (1967, previously unissued)
03. What Would I Do (1967, originally unissued)
04. Only One Way Out Of This Mess (1967, originally unissued)
05. I Know What You Came To Say (1967, previously unissued)
06. Dance To The Music (mono Epic single master, 1967)
07. Ride The Rhythm
08. Color Me True
09. Are You Ready
10. Don’t Burn Baby
11. We Love All
12. Danse A La Musique by The French Fries (mono Epic single, 1968)
13. Small Fries by The French Fries (mono Epic single, 1968)
14. Chicken (mono Epic single master, 1968)
15. Into My Own Thing
16. Life (mono Epic single master, 1968)
17. Love City (1968, previously unissued mono mix)
18. M’Lady (mono Epic single master, 1968)
19. Dynamite! featuring Johnny Robinson on vocals (1968, previously unissued)
20. Undercat (instrumental, 1967, previously unissued)

Disc Three (1968-1970)
01. Everyday People (mono Epic single master, 1968)
02. Sing A Simple Song (mono Epic single master, 1968)
03. I Get High On You (version two, 1968, previously unissued)
04. Wonderful World Of Color (instrumental, 1968, previously unissued)
05. Pressure (originally unissued)
06. I Want To Take You Higher (mono Epic single master, 1969)
07. Seven More Days (originally unissued)
08. Feathers (instrumental, 1968, previously unissued)
09. Somebody’s Watching You
10. Sex Machine
11. Hot Fun In The Summertime (mono Epic single master, 1969)
12. Everybody Is A Star (mono Epic single master, 1969)
13. Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin) (mono Epic single master, 1969)
14. Stand! (LIVE at the Isle of Wight Festival, August 30, 1970)
15. You Can Make It If You Try (LIVE, same as track 14)
16. Dance To The Music (LIVE, same as track 14, previously unissued)
17. Music Lover / I Want To Take You Higher / Music Lover (LIVE, same as track 14, previously unissued)